ἀλλά
but
Full lexicon entry — Thayer's Greek Lexicon
From Thayer's Greek Lexicon
Where this word appears
Grammar key — what these labels mean
Part of speech
- Conjunction
- A joining word linking words or clauses.
- Adjective
- A word that describes or qualifies a noun.
Case
- Nominative
- The case of the subject (and the predicate nominative).
Gender
- Neuter
- Grammatically neuter.
Number
- Plural
- More than one.
Every verse where G235 appears in the Book of Matthew — 37 distinct verses. Click any verse to open its interlinear word-by-word view. Verse text shown in the World English Bible for context — . Each verse’s Greek form is shown with its reference; the English is not keyword-highlighted, since the data carries no word-level English alignment. Use “Compare translations” on any verse to read it across multiple English versions. This concordance covers the Greek New Testament; Septuagint (Greek Old Testament) occurrences of this word are not indexed here.
Matthew
- Matthew 4:4 ἀλλ’ conj But he answered, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.'"
- Matthew 5:15 ἀλλ’ conj Neither do you light a lamp, and put it under a measuring basket, but on a stand; and it shines to all who are in the house.
- Matthew 5:17 ἀλλὰ conj "Don't think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets. I didn't come to destroy, but to fulfill.
- Matthew 5:39 ἀλλ’ conj But I tell you, don't resist him who is evil; but whoever strikes you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also.
- Matthew 6:13 ἀλλὰ conj Bring us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For yours is the Kingdom, the power, and the glory forever. Amen.'
- Matthew 6:18 ἀλλὰ conj so that you are not seen by men to be fasting, but by your Father who is in secret, and your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you.
- Matthew 7:21 ἀλλ’ conj Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven; but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
- Matthew 8:4 ἀλλὰ conj Jesus said to him, "See that you tell nobody, but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them."
- Matthew 8:8 ἀλλὰ conj The centurion answered, "Lord, I'm not worthy for you to come under my roof. Just say the word, and my servant will be healed.
- Matthew 9:12 ἀλλ’ conj When Jesus heard it, he said to them, "Those who are healthy have no need for a physician, but those who are sick do.
- Matthew 9:13 ἀλλὰ conj But you go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,' for I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."
- Matthew 9:17 ἀλλὰ conj Neither do people put new wine into old wineskins, or else the skins would burst, and the wine be spilled, and the skins ruined. No, they put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved."
- Matthew 9:18 ἀλλὰ conj While he told these things to them, behold, a ruler came and worshiped him, saying, "My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live."
- Matthew 9:24 ἀλλὰ conj he said to them, "Make room, because the girl isn't dead, but sleeping." They were ridiculing him.
- Matthew 10:20 ἀλλὰ conj For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.
- Matthew 10:34 ἀλλὰ conj "Don't think that I came to send peace on the earth. I didn't come to send peace, but a sword.
- Matthew 11:8 ἀλλὰ conj But what did you go out to see? A man in soft clothing? Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in king's houses.
- Matthew 11:9 ἀλλὰ conj But why did you go out? To see a prophet? Yes, I tell you, and much more than a prophet.
- Matthew 13:21 ἀλλὰ conj yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while. When oppression or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles.
- Matthew 15:11 ἀλλὰ conj That which enters into the mouth doesn't defile the man; but that which proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man."
- Matthew 16:12 ἀλλὰ conj Then they understood that he didn't tell them to beware of the yeast of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
- Matthew 16:17 ἀλλ’ conj Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.
- Matthew 16:23 ἀλλὰ conj But he turned, and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling-block to me, for you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of men."
- Matthew 17:12 ἀλλὰ conj but I tell you that Elijah has come already, and they didn't recognize him, but did to him whatever they wanted to. Even so the Son of Man will also suffer by them."
- Matthew 18:22 ἀλλ’ conj Jesus said to him, "I don't tell you until seven times, but, until seventy times seven.
- Matthew 18:30 ἀλλὰ conj He would not, but went and cast him into prison, until he should pay back that which was due.
- Matthew 19:6 ἀλλὰ conj So that they are no more two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, don't let man tear apart."
- Matthew 19:11 ἀλλ’ conj But he said to them, "Not all men can receive this saying, but those to whom it is given.
- Matthew 20:23 ἀλλ’ conj He said to them, "You will indeed drink my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with, but to sit on my right hand and on my left hand is not mine to give; but it is for whom it has been prepared by my Father."
- Matthew 20:26 ἀλλ’ conj It shall not be so among you, but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant.
- Matthew 20:28 ἀλλὰ conj even as the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
- Matthew 21:21 ἀλλὰ conj Jesus answered them, "Most assuredly I tell you, if you have faith, and don't doubt, you will not only do what is done to the fig tree, but even if you told this mountain, 'Be taken up and cast into the sea,' it would be done.
- Matthew 22:30 ἀλλ’ conj For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are like God's angels in heaven.
- Matthew 22:32 ἀλλὰ conj 'I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?' God is not the God of the dead, but of the living."
- Matthew 24:6 ἀλλ’ conj You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you aren't troubled, for all this must happen, but the end is not yet.
- Matthew 26:39 ἀλλ’ conj He went forward a little, fell on his face, and prayed, saying, "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass away from me; nevertheless, not what I desire, but what you desire."
- Matthew 27:24 ἀλλὰ conj So when Pilate saw that nothing was being gained, but rather that a disturbance was starting, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, "I am innocent of the blood of this righteous person. You see to it."
About this entry
At a glance — auto-summarized from this page’s data, not written by a person. Every figure links to its source below. This summary describes the numbers; it doesn’t interpret them.
The Greek conjunction αλλα centers on the idea of “but.” Its earliest occurrence is Matthew 4:4. Spanning 601 verses in 27 books, it ranks among the most common words of the Greek New Testament. Related forms include αλλος, αλλασσω and αλλαχοθεν. For the data behind this summary, explore the sense tree and the renderings breakdown below.
Gloss history
Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship
About this word
Strong's G235 catalogs a Greek word from the Greek New Testament.
These counts are not copied from any lexicon or concordance. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged Greek New Testament. What Lemma adds →
- 601
- distinct verses
- The word appears in 601 distinct verses.
- 27 / 27
- NT books
- The word appears in 27 of 27 New Testament books.
- #31
- by frequency
- Top 50 most frequent Greek words (rank 31 of 5,347 Greek words by occurrence).
View all 601 occurrences in the concordance →
Most concentrated in
- John 101 verses 17%
- Romans 68 verses 11%
- 1 Corinthians 63 verses 10%
By section of the New Testament
By traditional corpus
Conventional, traditional groupings — biblical authorship is debated, so this is a traditional corpus grouping, not an authorship claim. Some books belong to more than one corpus (Luke is in both the Gospels and the Lukan corpus, and so on), so these shares overlap and need not total 100%. Each figure is a share of the word’s 601 distinct verses.
- Pauline corpus 283 verses · 47%
- Gospels 214 verses · 36%
- Johannine 132 verses · 22%
- Lukan (Luke–Acts) 65 verses · 11%
- General (Catholic) Epistles 46 verses · 8%
- Hebrews 16 verses · 3%
- Revelation 12 verses · 2%
How translations render this word
Counts come from each version’s own published word-to-Strong’s tagging or interlinear alignment — an approximate guide to how each version renders this word, not a word-level alignment the data otherwise carries. Because each total is that version’s own tagged count, the per-version totals vary from one another and need not match the appearance or distinct-verse counts above. These counts may also differ from a printed concordance because Lemma counts each distinctly tagged rendering and does not collapse phrase taggings into a single head-word total. This is a fixed set of word-tagged versions (KJV, ASV, BSB, ULT) and does not change with the reading translation you choose elsewhere. Each version’s license is shown beside its name below (and on Sources).
- King James Version: But 566×, Yea 15×, Yet 11×
- American Standard Version: But 521×, Howbeit 18×, Yet 16×
- Berean Standard Bible: But 433×, Instead 49×, No 10×
- unfoldingWord Literal Text: But 556×, Instead 32×, Rather 10×
King James Version Public Domain
Renders G235 across 636 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 11 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings. Not rendered by a distinct English word in 1 further occurrence.
American Standard Version Public Domain
Renders G235 across 616 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 24 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
Berean Standard Bible Public Domain
Renders G235 across 565 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 10 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings. Not rendered by a distinct English word in 66 further occurrences.
unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
Renders G235 across 642 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 12 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
Senses in Thayer's
The 1 sense Thayer's distinguishes for this word, in lexicon order (not ranked by frequency or importance). The full entry — with sub-senses — is in the Lexicon Entry tab.
- but
Word origin
Derived from αλλος (állos) (G243) — another.
Neuter plural of G243 ; properly other things that is (adverbially) contrariwise (in many relations): - and but (even) howbeit indeed nay nevertheless no notwithstanding save therefore yea yet.
— Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance (1890), public domain.
Forms in the corpus
The 6 distinct written forms G235 takes in the Greek New Testament, most frequent first — each parse links to that case’s occurrences in the concordance.
| Form | Parsing | Example | Uses |
|---|---|---|---|
| ἀλλὰ allà | Conjunction | Matthew 5:17 | 408 |
| ἀλλ’ all | Conjunction | Matthew 4:4 | 220 |
| Ἀλλὰ Allà | Conjunction | Mark 13:24 | 4 |
| ἀλλά allá | Conjunction | Luke 24:21 | 2 |
| ἄλλα álla | Adjective, Nominative, Plural, Neuter | John 6:23 | 1 |
| Ἀλλ’ All | Conjunction | Romans 10:16 | 1 |
Same root — word family
Other Thayer's entries built from the same root as G235, grouped by Strong’s listed origin. These share a root / origin per the lexicon — not necessarily a shared meaning. Each links to that word’s own entry.
Derives from
Shares the same root
- αλλασσω allássō G236 to change
- αλλαχοθεν allachóthen G237 from another place
- αλληγορεω allēgoréō G238 to speak allegorically
- αλληλων allḗlōn G240 one another
- αλλογενης allogenḗs G241 foreigner
- αλλοτριος allótrios G245 foreign
- αλλοφυλος allóphylos G246 foreign
- αλλως állōs G247 otherwise
Compare all same-root words → Showing 4 of 10 — not the complete family. They share a root, not necessarily a meaning.
Septuagint usage
The same Greek word αλλα appears 364 times in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), across 360 verses in 28 books.
- 364
- LXX occurrences
- Tagged occurrences of this Greek word in the Septuagint.
- 360
- verses
- Distinct Septuagint verses containing this word.
- 28 / 39
- OT books
- The word appears in 28 of the 39 Old Testament books.
Sample Septuagint occurrences
- Genesis 15:4 ἀλλά
- Exodus 8:24 ἀλλά
- Leviticus 11:21 ἀλλά
- Numbers 10:30 ἀλλά
- Deuteronomy 1:28 ἀλλά
- Joshua 1:18 ἀλλά
- Judges 2:2 ἀλλά
- 1 Samuel 1:23 ἀλλά
- 2 Samuel 10:3 ἀλλά
- 1 Kings 3:11 ἀλλά
- 2 Kings 4:2 ἀλλά
- 1 Chronicles 2:34 ἀλλά
Septuagint occurrences (same lexeme)
Every verse where the same Strong’s number (G235) appears in the Greek Septuagint — showing the first 50 of 360. Verse text shown in the World English Bible for context; the Greek form is the matched word — the English is not keyword-highlighted.
- Genesis 15:4 ἀλλά Behold, the word of Yahweh came to him, saying, "This man will not be your heir, but he who will come forth out of your own body will be your heir."
- Genesis 17:5 ἀλλά Neither will your name any more be called Abram, but your name will be Abraham; for the father of a multitude of nations have I made you.
- Genesis 17:15 ἀλλά God said to Abraham, "As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but her name will be Sarah.
- Genesis 18:15 ἀλλά Then Sarah denied, saying, "I didn't laugh," for she was afraid." He said, "No, but you did laugh."
- Genesis 19:2 ἀλλά and he said, "See now, my lords, please turn aside into your servant's house, stay all night, wash your feet, and you will rise up early, and go on your way." They said, "No, but we will stay in the street all night."
- Genesis 20:12 ἀλλά Moreover she is indeed my sister, the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife.
- Genesis 21:23 ἀλλά Now therefore swear to me here by God that you will not deal falsely with me, nor with my son, nor with my son's son. But according to the kindness that I have done to you, you shall do to me, and to the land in which you have lived as a foreigner."
- Genesis 21:26 ἀλλά Abimelech said, "I don't know who has done this thing. Neither did you tell me, neither did I hear of it, until today."
- Genesis 24:4 ἀλλά But you shall go to my country, and to my relatives, and take a wife for my son Isaac."
- Genesis 24:38 ἀλλά but you shall go to my father's house, and to my relatives, and take a wife for my son.'
- Genesis 28:17 ἀλλά He was afraid, and said, "How dreadful is this place! This is none other than God's house, and this is the gate of heaven."
- Genesis 32:29 ἀλλά Jacob asked him, "Please tell me your name." He said, "Why is it that you ask what my name is?" He blessed him there.
- Genesis 34:31 ἀλλά They said, "Should he deal with our sister as with a prostitute?"
- Genesis 35:10 ἀλλά God said to him, "Your name is Jacob. Your name shall not be Jacob any more, but your name will be Israel." He named him Israel.
- Genesis 38:23 ἀλλά Judah said, "Let her keep it, lest we be shamed. Behold, I sent this kid, and you haven't found her."
- Genesis 40:14 ἀλλά But remember me when it will be well with you, and show kindness, please, to me, and make mention of me to Pharaoh, and bring me out of this house.
- Genesis 40:15 ἀλλά For indeed, I was stolen away out of the land of the Hebrews, and here also have I done nothing that they should put me into the dungeon."
- Genesis 40:23 ἀλλά Yet the chief cupbearer didn't remember Joseph, but forgot him.
- Genesis 42:12 ἀλλά He said to them, "No, but you have come to see the nakedness of the land."
- Genesis 42:34 ἀλλά Bring your youngest brother to me. Then I will know that you are not spies, but that you are honest men. So I will deliver your brother to you, and you shall trade in the land.'"
- Genesis 44:26 ἀλλά We said, 'We can't go down. If our youngest brother is with us, then will we go down: for we may not see the man's face, unless our youngest brother is with us.'
- Genesis 45:1 ἀλλά Then Joseph couldn't control himself before all those who stood before him, and he cried, "Cause every man to go out from me!" There stood no man with him, while Joseph made himself known to his brothers.
- Genesis 45:8 ἀλλά So now it wasn't you who sent me here, but God, and he has made me a father to Pharaoh, lord of all his house, and ruler over all the land of Egypt.
- Genesis 47:18 ἀλλά When that year was ended, they came to him the second year, and said to him, "We will not hide from my lord how our money is all spent, and the herds of cattle are my lord's. There is nothing left in the sight of my lord, but our bodies, and our lands.
- Genesis 47:30 ἀλλά but when I sleep with my fathers, you shall carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their burying place." He said, "I will do as you have said."
- Genesis 48:19 ἀλλά His father refused, and said, "I know, my son, I know. He also will become a people, and he also will be great. However, his younger brother will be greater than he, and his seed will become a multitude of nations."
- Exodus 8:24 ἀλλά Yahweh did so; and there came grievous swarms of flies into the house of Pharaoh, and into his servants' houses: and in all the land of Egypt the land was corrupted by reason of the swarms of flies.
- Exodus 9:2 ἀλλά For if you refuse to let them go, and hold them still,
- Exodus 10:25 ἀλλά Moses said, "You must also give into our hand sacrifices and burnt-offerings, that we may sacrifice to Yahweh our God.
- Exodus 12:9 ἀλλά Don't eat it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roasted with fire; with its head, its legs and its inner parts.
- Exodus 16:8 ἀλλά Moses said, "Now Yahweh shall give you meat to eat in the evening, and in the morning bread to satisfy you; because Yahweh hears your murmurings which you murmur against him. And who are we? Your murmurings are not against us, but against Yahweh."
- Exodus 16:20 ἀλλά Notwithstanding they didn't listen to Moses, but some of them left of it until the morning, and it bred worms, and became foul: and Moses was angry with them.
- Exodus 21:13 ἀλλά but not if it is unintentional, but God allows it to happen: then I will appoint you a place where he shall flee.
- Exodus 23:5 ἀλλά If you see the donkey of him who hates you fallen down under his burden, don't leave him, you shall surely help him with it.
- Exodus 23:24 ἀλλά You shall not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor follow their practices, but you shall utterly overthrow them and demolish their pillars.
- Exodus 32:18 ἀλλά He said, "It isn't the voice of those who shout for victory, neither is it the voice of those who cry for being overcome; but the noise of those who sing that I hear."
- Exodus 33:16 ἀλλά For how would people know that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Isn't it in that you go with us, so that we are separated, I and your people, from all the people who are on the surface of the earth?"
- Leviticus 11:21 ἀλλά Yet you may eat these: of all winged creeping things that go on all fours, which have legs above their feet, with which to hop on the earth.
- Leviticus 21:2 ἀλλά except for his relatives that are near to him: for his mother, for his father, for his son, for his daughter, for his brother,
- Leviticus 21:14 ἀλλά A widow, or one divorced, or a woman who has been defiled, or a prostitute, these he shall not marry: but a virgin of his own people shall he take as a wife.
- Leviticus 26:15 ἀλλά and if you shall reject my statutes, and if your soul abhors my ordinances, so that you will not do all my commandments, but break my covenant;
- Leviticus 26:23 ἀλλά "'If by these things you won't be reformed to me, but will walk contrary to me;
- Leviticus 27:21 ἀλλά but the field, when it goes out in the Jubilee, shall be holy to Yahweh, as a field devoted; it shall be owned by the priests.
- Leviticus 27:29 ἀλλά "'No one devoted, who shall be devoted from among men, shall be ransomed; he shall surely be put to death.
- Numbers 10:30 ἀλλά He said to him, I will not go; but I will depart to my own land, and to my relatives.
- Numbers 13:28 ἀλλά However the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified, [and] very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there.
- Numbers 13:30 ἀλλά Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.
- Numbers 13:33 ἀλλά There we saw the Nephilim, the sons of Anak, who come of the Nephilim: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.
- Numbers 14:9 ἀλλά Only don't rebel against Yahweh, neither fear the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defense is removed from over them, and Yahweh is with us: don't fear them.
- Numbers 14:14 ἀλλά and they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that you Yahweh are in the midst of this people; for you Yahweh are seen face to face, and your cloud stands over them, and you go before them, in a pillar of cloud by day, and in a pillar of fire by night.
These are occurrences of the same Greek lexeme (G235) in the Septuagint — not a translation of any one Hebrew word. The store carries no word-level Hebrew↔Greek alignment, so no Hebrew original is asserted here. Counts come from the recovered LXX Strong's tagging — high-frequency vocabulary is well covered, while rare or late forms may be untagged — so they reflect tagged occurrences and may slightly undercount.
